Media
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Police State UK: The NSA spy scandal and the attack on press freedom By Chris Marsden
Recently released police documents on the August 18 arrest and questioning at London’s Heathrow airport of David Miranda, the domestic partner of journalist Glenn Greenwald, are a serious warning on the advanced stage of the decay of democracy in Britain and internationally. Continue reading
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Police State UK: The witch-hunt of Britain’s Guardian newspaper By Julie Hyland
Raids on newspaper offices, the forced destruction of computer drives and threats to arrest journalists are actions more commonly associated with military dictatorships. But this is exactly what has been meted out against the Guardian, with threats of worse to come. Continue reading
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Police State UK: Guardian faces parliamentary investigation over Snowden revelations By Chris Marsden
Britain’s Guardian newspaper is facing an investigation by at least one parliamentary committee, in line with demands made by Prime Minister David Cameron, concerning the exposures of Edward Snowden, the whistleblower from America’s National Security Agency (NSA). Continue reading
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NYT's Iraq War History, Still Misleading By Peter Hart
As the story goes (and was reported at the time), Bustani had been working on getting Iraq to agree to join the Chemical Weapons Convention. This was an unwelcome development for the Bush administration, since it could complicate efforts to invade Iraq based in part on its chemical weapons stockpile. Continue reading
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NYT's OPCW "He Said, She Said" Reporting Misses Major Judgement
In 2002 José Bustani, the then head of the now Nobel prized Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, was fired because his insistence on bringing Iraq into the Chemical Weapon Treaty conflicted with the war plans of the Bush administration. Continue reading
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The NHS and You: The BBC wants to hear from you
The BBC is asking for your views on its news and current affairs coverage. This is a good chance to feedback any comments you may have on its coverage of the NHS Continue reading
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Charlie Rose: Media Straight Man for Bashar el-Assad By Cameron Salisbury
On Monday night, September 9, 2013, media personality Charlie Rose sat down with Syria’s leader Bashar el-Assad for an interview that lasted the better part of an hour. It was a remarkable conversation but not for the reasons that Charlie Rose is being treated like a conquering hero at CBS. The person who deserves the… Continue reading
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On Syria, Sunday Morning TV Journalists Don't Need Proof By Peter Hart
The public doesn’t seem to support going to war in Syria–but some high-profile Sunday morning TV journalists are either declaring their support for the war, or professing faith in the case for going to war. Continue reading
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When It Comes to State Violence, Too Much Is Never Enough By Jim Naureckas
Obama does “hesitate to use force”–is that his problem? Since 2009, US drone strikes have killed more than 2000 people in Pakistan, including 240 civilians, 62 of them children. Since Obama took office, they’ve killed more than 400 in Yemen; drone deaths in Somalia are harder to quantify. Continue reading
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The Strange Thing About Cluster Bombs By Jim Naureckas
That’s the strange thing about cluster bombs: When they’re used by official enemies, they’re weapons of indiscriminate terror (FAIR Blog, 4/16/11,1/2/13). When they’re used by the United States, they’re not much worth talking about. Continue reading
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John Kerry's Very Precise Death Toll: Where Does It Come From? By Peter Hart
Journalists should, at a minimum, attribute these estimates to the government–and note that they are not in line with other reputable estimates of the death toll in Syria. Ideally, reporters should ask John Kerry to explain the discrepancy. He just made the rounds on all the major Sunday chat shows, and no one who was… Continue reading
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BBC editor urged colleagues to downplay Israel’s siege of Gaza By Amena Saleem
The new Middle East online editor for BBC News has been praised by a pro-Israeli website for being “willing to listen to his critics” after he sent internal emails guiding BBC staff to write more favorably about Israel. Continue reading
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BBC editor urged colleagues to downplay Israel’s siege of Gaza By Amena Saleem
The new Middle East online editor for BBC News has been praised by a pro-Israeli website for being “willing to listen to his critics” after he sent internal emails guiding BBC staff to write more favorably about Israel. Continue reading
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Which Syrian Chemical Attack Account Is More Credible? By Jim Naureckas
Let’s compare a couple of accounts of the mass deaths apparently caused by chemical weapons in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta on August 21. One account comes from the U.S. government (8/30/13), introduced by Secretary of State John Kerry. The other was published by a Minnesota-based news site called Mint Press News (8/29/13). Continue reading
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On Syria, Intelligence and Evidence By Peter Hart
One would hope that the lessons of Iraq might inform more of the coverage of Syria. But that’s not always the case. Over the course of the past week, the White House and various officials have been adamant that they have evidence that shows the Syrian government was responsible for the horrific attack last week… Continue reading
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Media Advisory: Heading to War With Syria By Peter Hart
There is still no firm public evidence that would tie these specific attacks to the Assad government. But all around the U.S. media the signs are clear that war is on the way. The front page of USA Today (8/27/13) displays U.S. bombs: Continue reading
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The Accelerating Assault on Journalism
U.S. soldier Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning’s 35-year sentence represents the harshest punishment issued to date for providing media with evidence of government wrongdoing (Forbes, 8/21/13). She is the first whistleblower to be convicted under the Espionage Act, ratifying the new reality that those who give the press information that the government wants to keep secret… Continue reading
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Government Should Not Define What a Reporter Is — or Isn’t By Walter Brasch
Sen. Dianne Feinstein and a horde of members of Congress of both parties want to decide who is and who isn’t a reporter. Sen. Feinstein says a “real” reporter is a “salaried agent of a media company.” Continue reading
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Snowden ‘not the source’ of Middle East surveillance leak – Guardian
The Guardian insists that the latest leaks published by the Independent revealing a UK-backed internet-monitoring station in the Middle East were not from Snowden. “I have never provided any journalistic materials to the Independent,” the paper cites him. He speculated that the UK government intentionally leaked the materials to create the impression that the release… Continue reading
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Bait-and-Switch on Stop-and-Frisk By Jim Naureckas
There’s a lot of misinformation coming from the media on the unconstitutional police strategy known as stop-and-frisk. There’s a powerful urge to believe, it seems, that abusing the Fourth Amendment rights of young men of color somehow makes the rest of us safer. Continue reading
The New Dark Age 